Everest 2017: Expedition Begins!

Base camp report from Dave: Things are going well! All of the team was able to reach Base camp successfully. Usually, they require base camp trekkers to turn around shortly after arriving, but our team had a chance to stay overnight and truly get a firsthand account of what it's like. Base camp is awesome, the expedition guys are lucky enough to have their own toilet, shower and mess tent where they will be living for the next month. The conditions might actually be better than some of the tea houses they have been in. Their camp is situated right near the Khumbu ice fall which is a great location. It can take up to an hour to walk from end of the camp to another so it's nice to be near the action.

Most of Dave and Tom's team was able to helicopter out, back to Kathmandu this morning. A few stayed to do one last peak.

This morning, the guys were able to attend a Puja ceremony with Lhakpa. This is a ceremony that the sherpas and climbers participate in. I loved the description on one website:

"The puja — blessing of the expedition — at Base Camp marked the end of the trekking chapter of the expedition and the beginning of the mountaineering phase of the journey. Puja is a ceremony officiated by a Lama and two or more monks in front of an altar built of stone. Those performing a puja ask the Gods for good fortune for the sherpas and the climbers as they attempt to summit the mountain. In front of the altar, offerings are made to the Gods: sampa cake, yak milk butter, fried dough, fruits, chocolate, and drinks. Juniper burns continuously in a niche in the altar. All the critical climbing equipment is blessed — harnesses, crampons, ice-axes, and helmets, as well as the expedition flag. Prayer flags are strewn for 100 feet in several directions. During the ceremony, the sherpas chant along with the Lama and monks, and everyone throws rice. The sherpas raise a pole with juniper branches on the top, and it is a sign of good fortune if a gorak (raven) lands on the pole. The ceremony closes with the participants sharing food, and finally with the climbers and sherpas smearing gray sampa flour on each others’ faces — a symbol of their hope that they may live to see each other when they are old and gray."

Dave and Brandon are taking an acclimatization rotation up Lobuche Peak with some of the other guys in the trekking group. They will be off the grid for a few days then hopefully all back together with Tom and Larry resting at basecamp for a few days and preparing for the next rotation.

Here are some pics I've received today:

Tom, Rob and Dave at base camp, great support to Dave- sad to see them go.

Dave and Lhakpa meeting up at base camp. Lhakpa is the organizer of the expedition and is a wonderful asset for the team. Dave mentioned that his wisdom, experience and leadership have been (and will be) the key to their success. You can read more about him here. He will manage the team from base camp and his experienced guides including some of his brothers will guide the team through the higher camps.